Friday, 10 August 2012

Hank's Haute Dogs Honolulu, Oahu Hawaii - best gourmet hotdogs

Rating 9.5/10
After hearing about "lobster dog" from KimChee, we hit up Hanks original location for their infamous "haute" dogs. After leaving a 5 star restaurant, Chef Henry Adaniya followed his passion and love for food to make the best gourmet haute dogs you have ever bit into. Specials include a lobster dog topped with scallops (Friday), a duck sausage topped with foie gras (Sunday), wild boar(Tues), buffalo (Thurs) , Kobe beef (Sunday) dogs all topped with a variety of toppings you'd never expect on a hot dog.

The place has a vintage feel, going in stride with the nostalgic feelings that come with the childhood memories of hot dogs - roasting them over a fire, BBQ's, baseball/hockey/football games.

And yup, this place got two thumbs up from Triple D, Guy Fieri himself

There are some that love to unwrap electronics... we loved un-packaging the haute dogs!

First one up was the Chicago, a Vienna all-beef hot dog that snapped nicely when you bit into it.

Topped with ketchup, mustard, relish, tomatos, sweet diced onions and a giant pickle. While tasty, this Chicago hot dog didn't provide as much snap as a Nathan's. That's ok.. it warmed us up for...

the Fatboy! Think BLT but with a bacon wrapped and deep fried hot dog. It made my heart skip, but the tastebuds sing. Soooo decadently good!!

We washed down the two dogs with a fresh ginger soda... which packed a super gingery zing and wasn't overly sweet. *Slurp!*

We popped in the next day for a snack, and met Henry Adaniya himself! Our conversation went like so:
Us: Hey, are you Hank of Hanks?
Henry: Yeah, wha... how did you..? Do I..?
Us: *points at picture on the wall adjacent to the cash register of a guy with a remarkable resemblance posed with Triple D*
Henry: LOL! Yes, that's me!
As we initially planned on passing on the Pineapple ice, just having Matsumoto's shaved ice recently, Henry described it to us, told us we should try, and while we were waiting for our meal, he brought out a sample of pineapple ice for us! It was a light, not too sweet pineapple slush...

So, I went back up to the order counter, made Henry laugh as we got a Pineapple ice along with our Lilokoi Lime soda. Never doubt Chef Henry... the Pineapple ice was waaaay better than the Lilokoi soda.

Did I mention I love the boxes? My inner child clapped and squealed with glee at the cute packaging the hot dogs come in

The Hawaiian out of this world with its juicey and flavorful Portuguese sausage, and topped with a squirt of sweet mango mustard and a huge pile of fresh pineapple relish. NOM! My boyfriend nearly inhaled it off without me sneaking in a bite!

Since it was a Tuesday, I also went with a Wild Boar. The Wild boar sausage is lean and savory, topped with a cranberry-apple relish, an addictive black pepper-thy​me mustard, and shredded lettuce. Mmmm.. salty and sweeeeet!

Henry is super friendly, laid back and its clear he's passionate about food and his haute dogs. He has daily specials, and doesn't have all his hot dogs varieties available everyday. When we asked why not... then everyone can try them all at once! He sputtered, laughed and replied "you'd DIE trying!!". Ah, but what a glorious way to go! We were also lucky enough to have Henry snap a pic with us!! (He thought were just Canadian tourists that love to eat). Sorry, can't post the pic otherwise you'd know what we look like!

the VERDICT
Though we weren't able to try the lobster and duck dogs as it was a weekday both times we went, Hank's hands down makes the best gourmet haute dogs!